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Years ago… before Relapse signed em, before getting to open for METALLICA (!), and before folks outside of the underground even really knew about em, a badass band from Georgia (via Virginia) named BARONESS released two EPs aptly titled First and Second. Both were snatched up by a rabidly growing fanbase, and have remained largely out of print since.

The band’s now-classic formative material has finally seen a proper reissue, combined together as one deluxe LP. A bit dirtier, punker and more metal than their current rock-infused catchy weirdness, First & Second is an important document in the lineage of this awesome band, and all 38 minutes of music have been completely re-mixed and re-mastered for a much fuller sound than ever before.

We’re really stoked to have witnessed BARONESS literally go from the basement to the arena in just a few years, and are extremely happy to play a small part in this LP. This release has been a LONG time coming, and while we’re not the label who put it out (Hyperrealist did), we are pretty much the main mailorder outlet for this bad mamma jamma aside from Hyperrealist themselves. 2000 copies of this beast have been pressed, with 500 on red vinyl, 500 on swirly olive vinyl and 1000 on black vinyl. All on the pressing plant floor ready to ship, we expect our copies to arrive here any time now. At a $14.99 price, you can pre-order this now direct from us at the Robotic Empire – Online Store.

Somewhat related on several levels is the limited tour pressing of BLACK TUSK‘s Passage Through Purgatory LP that we scored a few weeks back. Akin to the BARONESS reissue, this 12″ was also released by Hyperrealist, has awesome John Baizley artwork, and is primarily available through the Robotic Empire – Online Store. Only us and the band themselves have this available, as its limited to just 350 (signed n’ numbered) copies.

The other big addition/alteration to our Online Store this week is the newly discounted FLOOR Below & Beyond Deluxe Vinyl Box Set. To be more specific, during an inventory check we discovered that 13 copies (of less than 50 remaining in total) have some minor damage to the outer box and thus, can’t really be sold at full price. We tried to get more boxes to replace these damaged ones, but no extras were left… so for those who were interested in this but dissuaded by the $250 price tag, we’ve now got a slightly scuffed, slightly cheaper version available.

The damage is very minimal in general, just a slight scrape on the canvas of the outer box (see photo above) on most of these 13 copies. This effects vinyl and CD playability zero, so if you want all the tunes and artwork and everything that comes with the most elaborate project/release we’ve ever done, now’s the chance to nab it at a discounted price. This is also now available in the Robotic Empire – Online Store.

p.s. for those in the Austin region, be sure to check out FLOOR live at the Fun Fun Fun Fest this upcoming weekend (Sun, Nov 7th), as it’s their last known/scheduled “reunion” performance… (for now?)

Last but not least is an absolutely KILLER update to the store as far as other new items and restocks go. Almost all bangers this time around, we’ve got new vinyl from BASTARD NOISE, CASPIAN, CLOUD MOUTH, EXTREME NOISE TERROR, JULIE CHRISTMAS (of BATTLE OF MICE, MADE OUT OF BABIES, etc), SKELETONWITCH and TRIAC… as well as essential restocks from FELL VOICES, KYLESA, PHOBIA, PIZZA and more. Gat dayum!